Press freedom report

The MEAA is looking for input for its 2006 Press Freedom Report. Submissions must be in by the end of February 2006. The inaugural 2005 Press Freedom Report can be downloaded here.

New US journalism program

The US State Department has started a new program for up to 100 journalists a year to visit and study in the USA. It is called the Edward R. Murrow Journalism Program is specifically for journalists, and entries are open with the first takers expected in the USA in April.

Media Report

The Media Report - the last for the year - reviewed 2005 and looked ahead to 2006 with some interesting comments by Mark Day and Chris Nash. Transcript and audio download are up. During the next few weeks Media Report will be replaying some of the highlight programs of 2005. The Media Report proper resumes on Thursday 26 January 2006.

Melbourne lecture

Premier of Queensland Peter Beattie presents the University of Melbourne AN Smith Memorial Lecture in Journalism Power Without Responsibility - Who Guards the Guardians? at the University of Melbourne at 6 pm this evening. Mr Beattie will discuss whether the principles of freedom of information should be extended to journalists, so that the media can be held to the same tests of honesty as other public institutions. The lecture is free and open to the public but bookings are required.

16/12/2005 The full text and an audio recording are now available.

WPI fellowships

Applications for the World Press Institute Fellowships close at the end of the month, 31 December 2005. This program is for mid-career journalists and is a four month trip to and around the United States.

Telstra Rural Media Awards (SA)

Winners of these state awards will be named at a Rural Media Association of South Australia lunch in Adelaide today.

Human rights awards

Winners of HREOC’s Human Rights Medal and Awards which includes awards for print, radio and TV reporting, will be announced at a luncheon in Sydney today.
The winners are listed here.

Walkley magazine

Issue 36 the December 2005/January 2006 edition of the Walkley Magazine is out. It is available for $9.95 from MEAA offices. This one has the full details, with pictures, of the Walkley Award winners, and some articles on food and wine reporting.

Law seminar

Yesterday and today Law Update, a two day seminar at Bond University on the Gold Coast presented by journalism Professor Mark Pearson author of The Journalist’s Guide to Media Law.

Photo Contest

Entries for the 2006 World Press Photo Contest are open now and close on 12 January. The best single photo and the best series of photos in 10 categories receive Golden Eye Awards, and prizes of $2,300 plus a trip to Amsterdam. From these the jury selects a single World Press Photo of the Year that wins $15,600. Australians do well in this contest.

Ossie Awards

Te Waha Nui New Zealand's Auckland University of Technology journalism newspaper, has won this year's Ossie Award for best student publication (any medium) in Australia, NZ and the Pacific. The newspaper was edited this semester by Nicholas Moody and the course is led by AUT's David Robie and Allan Lee.

Other awards announced at the JEA conference on the Gold Coast last night:

Best print news story: Phil Han (University of Technology, Sydney)
Best radio news story: Sophie Gyles (UTS)
Best TV news story: Jonathan Peeris and Saane Neilsen (RMIT)
Best print feature (undergraduate): Michael Atkin (UTS)
Best print feature (postgraduate): David Swift (Macleay College)
Best photojournalism: Christina Hermanstad (UTS)
Best radio current affairs (undergraduate): Divine Word University (PNG)
Best TV current affairs (undergraduate): Barry Hartono and Daniel Gerich (Griffith University)
Best broadcast current affairs (postgraduate): Barnaby Howarth (UTS)
Best story by an international student: Laura Tenret (University of Western Sydney)
Hunter Institute Response Ability Prize: Melanie Lees (University of Western Sydney)

Digital Media Festival

The Digital Media Festival - exhibition and conference - is on at the Sydney Exhibition and Convention Centre today 6 - 8 December 2005. AVID is showing some of its HDV news systems at the Exhibition, and at the Conference the SMH’s Tim Clayton is speaking about photo journalism in the digital age at noon tomorrow.

Bell Awards

The Australian Business and Specialist Publishers Bell Awards came out last week. The full list of winners and runners up is in the latest edition of Publisher available online here.
Awards of particular interest include -

• Magazine of the Year Universal Magazine’s Dirt Action.

Awards to journalists were -

• Editor of the Year Wilson da Silva of Cosmos.
• Writer of the Year Robert Drane of Australian Doctor.
• Best Newcomer to Journalism Erin Carter of Melbourne Wedding & Bride.
• Best Editorial Issues Campaign Kate Gibbs of Lawyers Weekly.
• Best Opinion Segment Series Dr Kerri Parnell of Australian Doctor.
• Best Single Article Emma Young of New Scientist.
• Best Analytical Writing Deb Richards of Medical Observer Weekly.

Human Rights Awards finalists

HREOC has published the list of finalists for the 2005 Human Rights Awards. The winners will be announced on Friday.

IFJ meeting

The Executive Committee of the International Federation of Journalists meets in Sydney today and tomorrow, hosted by MEAA and IFJ Asia-Pacific.

Walkleys

The winners of the 2005 Walkley Awards will be announced in Sydney this evening. The awards presentation is being telecast on SBS 10-11.30 pm in all states.

Quill awards

Applications are now open for the Melbourne Press Club Quill Awards. Applications close on Tuesday 31 January 2006 for work done in calendar year 2005 in 25 categories and for prize money totalling $20,000.

Victorian award winner

The Victorian Sensis/MPC Award for Student Journalism will be announced at a Melbourne Press Club lunch today, 1 December 2005.

German grant closing

Anyone wanting to research a story or program in Germany should apply for the German Grant for Journalism 2006. Applications close tomorrow Friday 2 December 2005. The grant from the German Embassy is for a two week’s trip to Germany, including an interpreter/guide.

Free media seminar

The IFJ/Walkley/MEAA Free Media in a Democratic Society seminar is on in Sydney today and tomorrow, 30 November and 1 December 2005.

Sports media awards

The Australian Sports Commission Media Awards will be announced at a dinner in Canberra tonight from the list of finalists.

Terror laws impact forum

The NSW Writers’ Centre has a forum in Sydney on the impact of the new terror laws on writers, journalists, publishers tonight Tuesday 29 November, 6 - 8pm at Rozelle.

JEA conference

The Journalism Education Association’s conference starts today and finishes on Friday 2 December. The program is in the left menu under Registration - Timetable 2005. The General Meeting is on Thursday 1 December and the Ossie Awards are announced that evening.

Bell Awards

Australian Business and Speciality Publishers - a magazine industry group - announced their Bell Awards last Friday. There’s nothing on the website yet.

Winners of SA Youth Media Awards 2005

• Best television news report, feature interview or documentary - Caroline Kelly of Channel 7 for ‘Model Drugs’ telecast 22 August, 2005.
• Best radio news report, feature interview or documentary - Lauren Kandelaars of Radio Adelaide for ‘Living with the Black Dog’ broadcast between 25 and 29 July, 2005.
• Best news report in metropolitan/suburban press or publication - Cara Jenkin of The Advertiser for ‘Drugs, gangs and teen sex for sale’ published 31 January, 2005.
• Best news report in regional press or publication - Abbie Tiller of The Plains Producer for ‘Social Classes’ published on 31 August, 2005.
• Best feature in a regional press or publication - Anna Vlach and Haley Cahalan of the Stock Journal for ‘The Big Transition’ published on 16 September, 2005.
• Best photograph printed in print or digital media - Tricia Johnson of The Advertiser for ‘Last look at a land of hope and opportunity’ published 31 December, 2004.
• Best representation of Reconciliation in any medium was won by photographer Tait Schmaal of The Advertiser for ‘Tiny Smiles’ published 27 May, 2005.
• Best feature in metropolitan/suburban press or publication - Leisha Petrys of The Sunday Mail for ‘Terrible reality in a tangle of steel’ published 1 May 2005.

Churchill Fellowships

Applications are now being accepted for the 2006 Churchill Fellowships. There are almost 100 Fellowships available this year including eight additional Fellowships specially focussed on ‘Issues of Concern to Younger Australians.’ Journalists are encouraged to apply for the Fellowships which close on 28 February 2006.

CHOGM 2005 Malta

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta 25 - 27 November is being webcast by streaming video on the www.chogm2005.mt website - click on LIVE STREAMING at the bottom of the right menu. PROGRAMME at the top of the menu has a pdf of ceremonies and press conferences which are likely to be webcast. The full schedule of webcasts is restricted by a registration. Malta time is ten hours behind Sydney.

If you need details, have questions, or want local comment contact Pieter Wessels, chairman of the Commonwealth Journalists Association in Australia.

NEMBC Conference

The National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters’ Council annual conference titled Multicultural Community Broadcasting: Empowering & Connecting Communities begins in Geelong today and ends on Sunday 27 Nov 2005

Media Traditions conference

The two-day Australian Media Traditions Conference: Politics Media History starts today at Old Parliament House, Canberra. The program has a strong thread of political reporting.

Bioethics seminar

Writer, broadcaster and former Labor politician Dr Barry Jones will present a seminar entitled Tackling complex issues in an age of ‘wedge politics’, ‘spin’ and ‘the new normal’ at the University of Sydney at 5 pm today.

TVS starts transmission

Community broadcasting station Television Sydney starts transmission today on Channel 31 UHF 548.25MHz at less strength than SBS and from the Gore Hill tower. Free to air sets will need tuning. TVS is not on the cable services.

Men’s Rights media awards

The national lobby group Men’s Rights Agency announced today - International Men’s Day - the winners of its newly created awards. They are:
Press - Luke Slattery of The Weekend Australian
Print - John Hirst
Radio - Mike Jeffreys of 2CC Canberra
TV - Jonathan Holmes of Four Corners
Community Service - Dads on the Air (2GLF 89.3 FM Sydney) and The Outback City Express a free monthly newspaper in Queensland.
The Toady Anti-awards go to Dr Michael Flood of and Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward.

Youth Media Awards SA

The 2005 HomeStart Finance Youth Media Awards will be announced in Adelaide tonight - see presser.

Sports awards finalists

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) today announced the finalists in the annual ASC Media Awards. Winners will be announced at a presentation dinner at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra on Wednesday 30 November 2005.

CBAA conference

The Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) national conference begins in Fremantle today and finishes on Sunday.

News Awards

The winners of the first News Awards for News Limited staff announced in Adelaide last night are:
SIR KEITH MURDOCH AWARD: Hedley Thomas (The Courier Mail)
NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR: The Australian
YOUNG JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR: Liam Houlihan (Herald Sun).
ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Eric Lobbecke (The Daily Telegraph).
DESIGNER OF THE YEAR: Jos Valdman (The Daily Telegraph).
ONLINE JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR: The Daily Telegraph's team of Claire Gould, Jenny Dillon, Drew Gibson and Stephen Birch.
EDITORIAL INNOVATION: Michael Carroll (Townsville Bulletin).
SPORTS JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR: Mike Sheahan (Herald Sun).
SUB-EDITOR OF THE YEAR: Ian Gunn (The Australian).
BUSINESS JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR: Marshall Hall (Gold Coast Bulletin).
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR: David Caird (Herald Sun)
SPECIALIST WRITER OF THE YEAR: Matt Price (The Australian)
FEATURES JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR: Mike Safe (The Weekend Australian Magazine)

TV’s future

The Free TV Australia (formerly CTVA formerly FACTS) panel discussion in Sydney at 4 pm this afternoon with Sam Chisholm (Nine Network), David Leckie (Seven Network), and Grant Blackley (Network Ten) discussing the future of television in Australia is sold out.

WSIS#2 opens

The UN's much vaunted World Summit for the Information Society starts in Tunis, Tunisia today and goes until the 18th November 2005. The program and a live webcast here.

Masters lunch

The ubiquitous/investigative reporter Chris Masters speaks at the Rural Media South Australia lunch in Adelaide tomorrow.

Seminar registration

Today is the last day for cheap registration for the IFJ/Walkley FoundationMEAA/Myer Foundation Free Media in a Democratic Society seminar in Sydney 30 Nov/1 Dec 2005.

First News Ltd News Awards

News Ltd’s first News Awards for journalism open to all editorial staff – journalists, photographers, artists and designers – on all news newspapers, inserted magazines and news websites in Australia and the South Pacific will be announced in Adelaide this evening. There are13 categories with a total of AU$ 65,000 in prize money. At this stage I cannot find anything on the web.

Boyer Lectures start

The first Boyer Lecture by the Archbishop of Sydney Dr Peter Jensen can be heard live online at 5 pm today on ABC Radio National. Extracts will go up on the Boyer web page at the end of each lecture (6.55pm, Sunday Nov 13, 20, 27, Dec 4, 11, 18). Podcasts of the program will be available from the same page shortly afterwards. The podcasts will be complimentary for six weeks, after which they can be purchased at the ABC Shop.

Terrorism laws seminar - report

UTS’s Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ) two hour seminar on the new terrorism laws in Sydney yesterday was introduced by Peter Manning who told the 50 odd participants the panel of three would concentrate on what the laws mean to reporting and quality of journalism.
Chris Nash spoke first saying none of the 80 pieces of relevant legislation in all Australian jurisdictions recognised the media’s role, or journalists. He contrasted this with the UK where Lord Carlisle’s annual reports on the Terrorism Act recognise the media’s important role in democracy. Nash said draconian didn’t quite capture the spirit of the Australian legislation which struck right at the heart of journalists and their sources. It targeted journalists and communities in Australian society - such as the anti-war movement - whose only voice was through the media. The newly amended ASIO act meant journalists could be monitored, eavesdropped, and brought in for questioning without being able to tell anyone about it. He said any well-informed journalists would become the object of ASIO forced questioning and as informants, no-one would trust journalists. Most journalists would run a mile to avoid becoming an ASIO informant. This would leave the communities they normally report isolated from the media. He said the new legislation was a fatal shot at the role of the media in democracy. It reduced journalists effectively to agents of the police.
Liz Jackson spoke eloquently of the difficulties of working under the existing legislation in her Four Corners days. She cited questioning warrants where people questioned on security matters must not tell anyone they have been questioned, under threat of jail. She spoke of the difficulty reporters have interviewing such people, and spoke of how similar restrictions under the new preventative detention and control order measures would be equally limiting.
Ian Baker QC spoke in legal and historical detail of the new rules on sedition, and how it was no longer necessary to prove intent, that words alone sufficed provided someone interpreted them as sedition. This could include criticism of government and the constitution. He said the law was now so degraded that people, including journalists, could be interrogated in secret by secret agents. He ended saying “We are on the edge of our own 21st century form of fascism.”
Discussion started with queries about where the use of Police Media Unit footage left reporters and subs? Peter Manning urged Alina Bain of Free TV Australia - an organisational name he had to explain - to lobby the government on the effects of the legislation. She said FreeTV had already prepared submissions - like the ABC and SBS and News, Fairfax etc. Wendy Bacon suggested the chilling effect of the new legislation would really take root, with reporters self-censoring, and matters not getting reported. She suggested networks and media houses prepare guidelines for reporters. Chris Nash said it was the smaller media - such as community, environment and religious reporters - who would be targeted by the security services, not the mainstream media.

The first draft of the bill is still available as a PDF from the ACT Chief Minister’s site.
Links to existing legislation
Parliamentary Library Digest of the Anti-terrorism Bill 2005 dated 3 November here.

My apology for the 18 hour delay in posting this report - Telstra was 'upgrading' my ADSL exchange.

News Xchange blog

Richard Sambrook has blogged a headline-ish report on this 10/11 November conference in Amsterdam. It is well worth reading.

ACS awards - QLD

The Australian Cinematographers Society Awards for Queensland will be announced in Brisbane tonight - including news and current affairs work.

Remembrance Day

Today is Remembrance Day - not Armistice Day - with ceremonies at most war memorials at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

Terrorism laws seminar

UTS’s Australian Centre for Independent Journalism (ACIJ) is hosting a seminar tomorrow morning, Friday 11 November 2005, to discuss the effect the new anti-terrorism laws will have on journalism in Australia. Liz Jackson of MediaWatch, Ian Baker QC, Chris Nash, and Peter Manning are speaking. Building 10, Level 6, Room 430, University of Technology, Sydney - enter at Wattle Street lifts, Broadway. 8 am start and ends about 10 am.

Gold Ladles awards

At South Australia’s biennial Tasting Australia festival last week the top media awards went to UK food, travel writer, and photographer Alastair Hendy who took out two gold Ladles. Also awarded a gold ladle for Best Food Journalist was Australian writer, John Newton. Other individual journalism awards went to UK writer Andrew Jefford for Best Drink Journalist and Australian John Lethlean for Best Restaurant Critic. Details here.

Health journalism awards

The pharmaceutical industry’s Excellence in Health Journalism Awards will be presented at the National Press Club in Canberra today by Professor Peter Doherty, who will speak on "The beginners guide to winning the Nobel Prize."

ACMA conference

The inaugural Broadcasting Conference of the federal government’s Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is on in Canberra tomorrow Wednesday 9 November 2005, and Thursday.

Downer at press club

Alexander Downer, Minister of Foreign Affairs, is speaking at the National Press Club today.
Details here.

ACS awards - SA, WA, NT

The Australian Cinematographers Society’s state awards come out at a dinner in Adelaide tonight.

Medical writers meet

The 22nd Australasian Medical Writers Association annual two-day conference Bones of Contention gets under way in Canberra today.

Cartoonists meet

The Australian Cartoonists’ Association conference starts in the Blue Mountains today and finishes on Sunday. The Stanley Awards and a new award The Lindsays will be announced on Saturday night.

9/12/2005: The winners are here.

Ramadan ends

Eid al-Fitr - the breaking of the fast for Muslims - is today Thursday 3 November 2005 (calculation method) or tomorrow Friday 4 November 2005 (observation method) as the crescent moon has not been seen in Australia.

Highfield at U3A

John Highfield is speaking on My Years at the ABC and as a Foreign Correspondent at the University of the Third Age (U3A) in Sydney tomorrow. Should be an interesting talk, and some interesting questions.

Note: The U3A is now offering courses online.

PJR new edition

The new edition Vol 11 No 2 September 2005 of Pacific Journalism Review is out. It’s mostly media ethics with other articles and reviews of Australian interest.

Melbourne Cup

The race starts at 3 pm. Live audio is available from Radio Australia from 2.30 Melbourne time. Live video on BigPond is free if you registered in time.

Cup live video

BigPond is allowing ALL broadband users in Australia free access to their live streaming video of the Melbourne Cup tomorrow. You must register to get a password and instructions.

Rural award - SA

Entries for the South Australian Telstra Rural Journalist of the Year Award close today.

Diwali starts tomorrow

Diwali - the festival of lights - starts tomorrow Tuesday 1 November 2005 and lasts for five days. Hindus and Sikhs celebrate it as the start of the Hindu new year. Houses are decorated with fresh flowers, garlands and lights, and fireworks are set off. Candles or lamps are lit to represent the spirit of God as truth and light. It is also known as Deepawali and sometimes described as the Indian Christmas.

Halloween

Today is Halloween - All Hallows' Eve - and tomorrow All Saints’ Day.

CBA awards close

Entries for the Commonwealth Broadcasting Awards 2006 close today, London time.

Natali prize

Entries for the Lorenzo Natali Prize - and its AU$ 22,000 prize pool - close tomorrow, Monday 31 October 2005.

News map

An Italian site GeoNews is plotting Google News stories on a Google Map of the world. You look at the map, decide where you want your news from, and click on the icon for any story there. Up comes brief details and a link. It refreshes every thirty seconds. Weird but fun.

BOB awards

Voting for Deutsche Welle’s world-wide Best of the Blogs (BOB) Awards are in the closing stages. Before November 20 go to their award blog for links to some of the best blogs in the world, and to have your vote.

DST

Daylight saving time starts tonight and ends in all states on Sunday 2 April 2006. The ABC has details and a handy interactive clock. Officially this becomes Australian Eastern Daylight Time AEDT and the equivalent for Central and Western time. Non-daylight saving time is designated Australian Eastern Standard Time AEST, and equivalents.

Farmer Writers’ AGM

The annual general meeting of the Farm Writers’ Association of NSW is on at 11 am Menzies Hotel Sydney today. A talk by Mark Spurr Managing Director of Meat and Livestock Australia follows the AGM.

NEMBC early registrations closes

Early registration for the National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters’ Council conference in Geelong 25-27 November 2005 closes today.

ASC media awards

Nominations for the Australian Sports Commission Media Awards close today.

Jail journalism

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is teaching journalism to prisoners in UK jails. The scheme piloted at Wandsworth in 2001 is now set to go nationwide. It ‘gives the socially excluded the opportunity to gain valuable journalistic skills’ but one has to ask what it does for public perception of journalism and journalists, already very low in most developed countries.

Media Report

On this week’s Media Report at 8.30 am today on Radio National the Chairman of the House of Representative's Communications Committee , Queensland National MP Paul Neville. He thinks it is time for the ABC to be subjected to a minimum quota for producing Australian drama. Listen live online here.

OUP language report

Susie Dent Fanboys and Overdogs: The Language Report was published by Oxford University Press on 6 October 2005 [hardback pp163 ISBN 0192806769 AU$35]. It is OUP's annual catch-up on the language and full of firm decisions and delightful examples. For one, UK's The Sun summed up the defeat of Glasgow football club Celtic who hit a new low in the Scottish Cup when beaten by newcomers Inverness Caledonian Thistle, popularly known as Caley.
The Sun headline was "Super Caley Go Ballistic, Celtic Are Atrocious."
And the Queen's decision not to attend the wedding of Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.
Britain's Mirror headline read "Royal Wedding Snub Sensation: Heir Rage."
The New York Post opted for "Queen to Skip Chuck Nups."

JEA Ossie Awards

Entries and judging criteria for these student awards are now on the JEA website. http://www.jea.org.au/awards.htm. The winners will be announced at the JEA Conference 29 November 2005.

News Xchange

A conference of unusual relevance for working journalist News Xchange is on in Amsterdam 10-11 November 2005. Some 500 journalists get together for the conference which is not for ‘media’, does not consider ‘communications’ and just concentrates on what is worrying or interesting the poor slobs at the sharp end. At this stage it is planned to blog the whole conference and the transcripts and papers go up fairly quickly.

Photo agency

There are now two online photo agencies specialising in digital/phone pics. The latest Spy Media is based in the USA and offering free uploads until the end of October 2005. The first was UK based Scoopt. Working journalists who take such pics can now upload them to both sites where the pics are published automatically and if/when sold the site takes a slice of the action. Photo editors will have to keep an eye on these sites for fast breaking stories

Public service broadcasting book

Those of us who must “talk-the-talk” of public service broadcasting will find UNESCO’s just released Public Service Broadcasting: A Best Practices Source Book (UNESCO, Paris, October 2005 143 pp) an essential reference. It is a fast pdf download from the UNESCO site and hardcopy is free from most UNESCO offices. Do not be put off by the foreword which is very different to the main contents.

Scotsman archive

Every word of The Scotsman newspaper from 1817 to 1950 is now available online and searchable. It is the first complete searchable digital archive of a UK newspaper. Searching is free but you must subscribe to view the full article. Rates are reasonable, payable by credit card, and cater for occasional users. A quick search for a complex subject worked very well, and a search for five known articles found all of them.

UN Day

Events today to mark United Nations Day 24 October 2005 are:
Canberra a march and wreath laying at War Memorial UN Peacekeeper’s Association
followed by a Forum at the ACT Legislative Assembly on Youth and Peace.
Hobart a memorial service at the Cenotaph UNAA/UN Police Association and a luncheon at Parliament House addressed by Ali Kazak of Palestine National Delegation, and a reception at Government House.
Adelaide a UN Day dinner with speaker John Langmore national president of UNAA.

Note: UN TV, General Assembly sessions, the and noon press briefings are webcast live at http://www.un.org/webcast/.

ACS awards - NSW & ACT

The Australian Cinematographers Society state Awards for NSW and the ACT will be announced at a dinner in Sydney tonight, Saturday 22 October 2005. The awards include news and current affairs camerawork, but only members of the society can enter.

North Queensland awards

The Telstra Countrywide Media Awards (North Queensland) will be announced at a dinner in Cairns this evening, Saturday 22 October 2005.

9/12/2005: The winners are listed here.

OPSO awards

Winners of the three OPSO awards for 2005 are listed here.

Media Peace Awards

The winners of the United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Awards will be announced at a dinner in Melbourne tonight. A list of finalists is on the UNAA (VIC) site.

AlertNet

Subs and reporters covering fast breaking international disasters - earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunami, fires - need to know about AlertNet a not-for-profit early warning site. It uses satellite pictures and other information to give the fastest and latest information and maps of what’s going on. Only aid organisations are allowed to subscribe - and you must subscribe to use it - but they do let some journalists in, particularly if their bosses throw money at it. AlertNet is funded by Reuters Foundation.

AV news site

Australian journalists working in or covering the EU should look at the EU communication people’s wonderful new av site for journalists. It includes live broadcast quality video and an archive of pics, video and audio back to the 1940s. You have to register - but it’s no problem. Just don’t try it if you don’t have broadband.

ACS awards - VIC & TAS

Entries for the Australian Cinematographers Society state Awards for Victoria and Tasmania close today Friday 21 October 2005. News and current affairs camerawork qualifies but only members of the society can enter, which is a problem for multiskilled journalists.

Health journalism awards close

The National Press Club’s Excellence in Health Journalism Awards close tomorrow, Friday 21 October 2005. First prize is a return trip to the USA, and there are four other prizes of $1,000 each.

Journalism law seminar

Professor Mark Pearson author of The Journalist's Guide to Media Law is conducting a two day seminar on:

• defamation reform
• contempt of court
• special restrictions
• internet publishing pitfalls
• latest cases crime and justice reporting
• confidentiality

at Bond University 7 & 9 December 2005. Cost $390.

NT media awards

The Darwin Press Club's Northern Territory Media Awards were announced on 16 October 2005. The club does not have a web presence and the only mention of the awards on the web is in the media, including this one at the ABC.

OPSO media awards

The Older People Speak Out (OPSO) Media Awards will be presented at a dinner in Brisbane tomorrow night, 18 October 2005. The awards include Queensland and national ones for work submitted by media people, and the national People's Choice awards for work nominated by the public.

Terrorism draft legislation

In case you haven’t caught up with it, the ACT Chief Minister has published the draft anti-terrorism legisation here. It is a 331 Kb pdf and has to be downloaded to read.

Commercial radio awards

The Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAS) were announced at Radio Fest in Sydney last night. Finalists and winners - including journalists - at the CRA website.

Queensland Media Awards

The MEAA's Queensland Media Awards winners were announced in Brisbane last night.

Macquarie Dictionary

The 4th Edition of the full Macquarie Dictionary (ISBN: 1876429143 RRP: $120.00) will be ‘celebrated’ by Thomas Keneally at a Style Council reception at 5.30 pm today at the Eden on the Park, Melbourne.

The 3rd edition of the Macquarie Dictionary is now available online for $13 a year and $20 for both dictionary and thesaurus. It can also be downloaded for $50.

Style Council

The Style Council conference Style in context, Australian and international gets under way in Melbourne this evening with a reception and dinner and the main part of the program tomorrow.

Sydney seminar

The MEAA is putting on an interesting, sort of hybrid seminar in Sydney at the end of November called Free Media in a Democratic Society. The preliminary programme is:

WEDNESDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2005 4 pm
The Asia-Alliance Media Lecture: Free Media & Democracy in Asia
Siddharth Varadarajan one of India's most senior journalists who writes for The Hindu and author of Gujarat: the Making of a Tragedy will speak on the media's role in ethnic and religious strife, with special focus on the impact on Muslims of the Gujarat tragedy, the destruction of Buddhas in Afghanistan and the long-running Indo-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir.
Steven Gan founder and publisher of malaysiakini.com a leading news website in Malaysia, will talk on the roll that new news media plays in promoting democracy and human rights in Asia.
Sunanda Deshapriya senior journalist and co-founder/ spokesperson of Sri Lanka's Free Media Movement, will talk about the challenges facing journalists in Sri Lanka, particularly the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and the Sri Lankan peace process

THURSDAY 1 DECEMBER 2005 8 am
Journalists Under Pressure: Reinventing the Media Paradigm
Max Uechtritz former director of news Channel 9 and news and current affairs, ABC
Linda Foley president, The Newspaper Guild, USA and Canada
Aidan White general secretary, IFJ
The Story of Diminishing Press Freedom in Australia
John Martinkus journalist, SBS TV
Marion Wilkinson editor, national security, The Sydney Morning Herald
Michael McKinnon editor, freedom of information, The Australian
Richard Ackland editor of Justinian and media law journal Gazette of Law & Journalism
The Government Agenda: The Not So Secret Plan to Tame The Media
Quentin Dempster presenter ABC-TV's Stateline & author of Death Struggle
Liz Jackson presenter Media Watch ABC
Michael Steketee editor national affairs, The Australian

The cost is $50 - $115 depending on who you are and when you pay. Details and registration form available only from the MEAA at 1300 656512 or email events.walkleys@alliance.org.au.

The Walkley Magazine

Issue 35 of Australia’s only magazine devoted to journalism comes out tomorrow. The Walkley Magazine is published six times a year - February, April, June, August, October, December - costs A$55 a year by subscription and A$ 9.95 for a single copy which can be bought from MEAA offices.
It contains a detailed list of Walkley finalists, a fair bit on blogging, and is a good read.

Queensland Media Awards

Winners in the 10th anniversary Awards will be announced at a dinner in Brisbane at 6.30 pm tonight, Friday 14 October 2005. Lists of finalists and the judging panels and categories are available on the MEAA website.

9/12/2005: Winners are listed here.

Walkley finalists

The full list of finalists for the Walkley Awards is only available from SBS. The list is not yet available on either the Walkleys or MEAA sites though they have links through to the SBS page.

As there are no finalists just winners in the two Nikon Walkley Photographic Prizes they were announced:

Suburban/Regional Photography - Brian Cassey, The Townsville Bulletin “Crash Grief”
Commended: Craig Wilson, FPC Courier Newspapers, “Eye Gouge”
Portrait Photography - Sahlan Hayes, Sunday Life, Fairfax, “Mrs Whitlam”
Commended: Tamara Dean, The Sydney Morning Herald, “Mother and Child.”

Crime not Jihad

Coverage of the latest Bali bombings as a religious rather than a crime story has heightened a negative perception of Muslims, says Adjunct Professor Peter Manning, former head of news and current affairs at Channel Seven and the ABC. For the details see Annie Lawson’s story in the Age.

National Press Club

Professor Brien Holden of Vision CRC speaks at the National Press Club at 1 pm today. It will be telecast live nationally on the ABC and replayed at 3.25 am on Thursday.

Ethics text

Stephen Tanner - the new Head of Journalism at the University of Wollongong - has just released his book Journalism Ethics at Work (Pearson ISBN: 1741032180 pb). It’s aimed at undergraduate and early career journalists, is specific to Australia, and a good read.
In interviews about the book Tanner is talking of developing UOW’s program at an undergraduate level.

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur - literally ‘Day of Atonement’ - is the most sacred date in the Jewish calendar. Orthodox Jews fast from sunset tonight, Wednesday 12 October, until nightfall tomorrow, Thursday 13 October 2005.

Media Watch

ABC TV’s Media Watch went to air at 9.15 last night nationally, and contained the recent mistakes, fumbles, and just-not-good-enoughs of Australian reporting and sub-editing. The programme is repeated at 11.50 pm on Wednesday. Story details, transcripts, archives, video-on-demand of last night’s and previous programmes, and an RSS feed, are available on the Media Watch Home Page.

Lorenzo Natali Prize for Journalism

Australian journalists can enter the Lorenzo Natali Prize for Journalism given by the European Commission to print and online journalists for outstanding reporting on human rights and democracy in the developing world. It is for journalists employed by local media in five regions including Asia/Pacific. Reports must focus on human rights or democracy in the developing world and have been published between 1 January 2004 - 31 August 2005. Entries close 31 October 2005. The pool for first, second and third prize and best story is more than A$22,000.

Court Reporting

A new Australian book of interest to many journalists and all editors having trouble getting access to court papers came out last week - Court Reporting in Australia (CUP ISBN 0521615119 A$43 pb) by The Age Chief Court Reporter Peter Gregory. I can't find his bio on the web but there is a photo of him down the page at http://www.about.theage.com.au/list_award.asp.

Newspapers Handbook

Richard Keeble (University of Lincoln UK) this week released a new edition (4th) of his The Newspapers Handbook a practical and specific text on newspaper journalism. British but relevant to Australia. Details at the publisher’s site. ISBN 0-415-33114-5 and AUD 45 paperback.
There's a short bio of Keeble at the bottom of his article Making the Conflict Seem Unreal and he blogs at http://www.medialens.org/weblog/richard_keeble.php.

Also out this week Jenny Mckay (University of Stirling UK) The Magazines Handbook - a practical, specific British text. Details on the publisher's site ISBN 0-415-37137-6 and AUD 45 paperback.

John Doyle's speech

The full pre-written text of John Doyle’s Andrew Olle Media Lecture and a MP3 of the live speech - with typical Doyle asides - is now available on the ABC website.
It will be televised nationally by ABC TV at 10.35 pm tonight.
Reports so far are by SMH's Jeni Porter, AAP, and Peter Fitzsimons has a rueful report at the end of his Page 2 column in today’s Sun-Herald.

Steals/steels

In today’s Sun-Herald page 31 there is a header “City steals itself in wake of latest Bali terrorist attacks (SIC) ” which doesn’t do justice to Amy De Lore’s sober report about the Newcastle families.

Centurion

Is anyone else irritated by leader writers and TV commentators calling a batsman who knocks up a century a “centurion”? A centurion commands 100 troops, is a place in South Africa, and a pretty good kevlar helmet. It’s a bit of a stretch to extend the word to describe a helmeted sportsman anywhere who hits enough balls.

Queensland Media Awards

The names of finalists in the Queensland Media Awards are at <http://www.alliance.org.au/images/stories/qma2005/qma_finalists_2005.pdf> and the winners will be announced on Friday 14 October 2005 at a dinner in Brisbane.

Media Peace Awards

The names of finalists for the United Nations Association of Australia’s Media Peace Awards 2005 are now available at - <http://www.unaavictoria.com.au/pdf/UNAA_Media_Peace_Awards_2005_Finalists.pdf>

Style Council

The registration form for Style Council is now available at <http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/centres/sc/registration05.htm>.

The 2005 conference Style in context, Australian and international will be held in Melbourne on 15-16 October 2005. It is a must for any journalist seriously interested in the latest changes and usages of Australian english and includes the launch of the 4th edition of the Macquarie Dictionary by Thomas Keneally.

The Society of Editors’ National Editor’s Conference precedes it in Melbourne 13-15 October 2005.

ABC Friends newsletter

The September edition of Update, the newsletter of Friends of the ABC is now available at <http://www.fabcnsw.org.au/>.

Olle memorial lecture

John Doyle delivers the 10th annual Andrew Olle Media Lecture at a black tie dinner in Sydney tonight. ABC TV will broadcast it nationally at 10.35 pm on Sunday.

Walkley Awards

Entries for the 50th annual Walkley Awards <www.walkleys.com/> closed a month ago. Finalists will be named on Wednesday 12 October 2005 and the winners announced at a dinner in Sydney on Thursday 1 December 2005.

Daylight saving time

NSW, ACT, Victoria and South Australia DST starts on Sunday 30 October 2005 and ends on Sunday 26 March 2006. Tasmania started DST on 2 October 2005 and also ends 26 March. Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory don’t have it. If you’re confused, check out the ABC’s time zone clock <http://www.abc.net.au/backyard/timezone.htm>.

Ramadan

Ramadan in Australia began at sunrise this morning, Wednesday 5 October, and ends at sunset Wednesday 2 November 2005. Orthodox Muslims abstain from both food and drink from sunrise until after sunset prayers when there is a meal called Iftar, frequently an occasion for hospitality. Correct sunrise and sunset (maghrib) times for Australian towns and cities are at - <http://www.islamicfinder.org/cityPrayer.php?country=australia>.
The fast is followed November 3-5 with the Eid ul-Fitr festival, also called Ramzan id.

Travel advisories

The Australian Government official advice on travel - which is very much in the news at present - are at <http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/>.

Official interest rates

The Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision on official interest rates will be announced at 9.30 am AET today, Wednesday 5 October 2005. The news will be put up on the RBA web site <http://www.rba.gov.au> immediately the Board meeting finishes and will be broadcast live by ABC Radio News on <http://www.abc.net.au/streaming/newsradio.asx>.

Videophone journalism

The editor of Broadcast Engineering, a must-read for most engineers, has recognised the importance of mobile phones in modern journalism. If you need to convince your engineers to pay for a good model of mobile for you, get them to look at David Austerberry's editorial at http://broadcastengineering.com/mag/broadcasting_technology_democratising_news/.

A resource for working journalists in Australia

Welcome to Australian News Resources, replacing the website of the same name which was getting dated too quickly. Blogging will speed up the flow of links and other information and we hope it will be of interest to you. Please contribute or comment as you see fit but keep in mind the blog is intended for journalists working in Australia only. Other sites provide the same information in an international context and for other countries.